waterproof

The Contour+2 action camcorder is arguably one of the best on the market, right up there with GoPro's offerings, but the $400 price tag certainly isn't that great to look at. However, Contour has just released a new line of action cams called ContourROAM2, which offer some of the great features of its more-expensive brethren, but only costs half as much.

Wearable sports camera company Contour has revealed its latest model, the Contour+2, complete with Full HD video recording and integrated GPS. The waterproof camera - which can survive up to 60m dips into the blue stuff - mounts onto bikes, helmets, cars, or other hardware, and can use a smartphone as a remote control for framing and starting recording.

Nikon has launched a new interchangeable lens camera, the Nikon 1 J2, promising Full HD video and crystal-clear stills from a shooter that slips into your pocket. Fresh to the Nikon 1 System, the new J2 measures a compact 106 x 61 x 21.8 mm and is constructed from sturdy metal with a choice of six colors, and pairs a 10.1-megapixel CX-format CMOS with EXPEED 3 processing and ISO 100-3200 (6400), with a 3-inch 921k dot LCD display on the back for framing.

This week the folks at Boost Mobile and Kyocera have announced the final release date for the Kyocera Hydro, a device which we got our hands on earlier this Spring. This device is a waterproof smartphone with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a unique set of hardware buttons, and the ability to be dunked into a bucket of water. This device connects to 3G data via its carrier Boost Mobile and is set to be your "eco-friendly" companion this summer.

Sony has outed a pair of new Android smartphones, the Xperia go and Xperia acro S, each water resistant and promising dust and bump protection. The Sony Xperia go - which will arrive in the US as the Xperia advance - is the smaller of the pair, with a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 display, 1GHz dual-core processor and a 5-megapixel camera, while the Xperia acro S comes in a little larger, at 4.3-inches (1280 x 720) with a 1.5GHz dual-core and a 12-megapixel camera that Sony claims is ready to shoot in under a second.

Japanese carrier SoftBank has revealed its summer 2012 line-up, including an Android phone with an integrated radiation detector, the usual brace of big-screened beauties, and a 110Mbps mobile hotspot. The Pantone 5 SoftBank 107SH is the most unusual of the refreshed range, delivering not only eight hue options ranging from the salmony-pink shown here through to lime green and sober black, but the ability to track between 0.05 and 9.99 μSv/h of radiation.

The best camera may be the one that you have with you, but if you drop your brand spanking new Nikon D800 or Canon 5D Mark III then you’re gonna have a bad time. A more rugged approach is the solution, but they can command a high price and sacrifice picture quality. Olympus claims to have the answer in the form of the Tough TG-1. Olympus say that the camera is waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof, and crushproof - within limits, of course.

Live here in New Orleans for CTIA 2012 we had just started checking out the mobile goods when we spotted the HzO Waterblock booth. We've mentioned them in the past, but their hydrophobic waterproofing technique for smartphones and tablets is unlike anything else currently available, and said to be coming to Samsung and Apple devices soon.

Water and electronics generally don't mix, and while we've seen ruggedized, waterproof smartphones before they're generally rubber-clad, oversized and awkward. P2i hopes to change all that with its Aridion coating, a way of not only making the outer casing of a phone or tablet (or, indeed, plenty of other devices) resilient to moisture, but the internal components too. Read on to find out why you really want your next gadget to get the nano-tech treatment.

Panasonic's ELUGA waterproof smartphone will go on sale on March 29 in Japan as the NTT docomo NEXT series P-04D, offering 4.3-inches of slimline dunkable Android. Available exclusively in purple, the new handset is up for pre-order in Japan today for existing NTT docomo subscribers. Announced at Mobile World Congress last month - where we went hands-on and promptly dropped the ELUGA underwater - the phone marks Panasonic's attempt to clamber back into the smartphone segment.